The best Windows Phone you can buy - August 2014

Last December we looked at the best Windows Phone you could buy, concluding that the Nokia Lumia 925 was the top choice for Windows Phone shoppers. The svelte profile, sexy looks, and beautiful display make the Lumia 925 one of our favorite Windows Phones. However, it's hard to recommend buying it brand new today when it's well over a year old at this point. So it is time to refresh on our best Windows Phone recommendations.

Today we're going to look at the Windows Phone landscape and select the best Windows Phone you can buy right now.

The best Windows Phone you can buy – the Lumia 930 / Icon

The Lumia 930 is the best Windows Phone you can buy right now. It was introduced in the United States as the Lumia Icon on Verizon in February 2014. At Build 2014, the Lumia 930 was announced as the international version of the Icon and became available in June 2014.

Our pick as the best Windows Phone you can buy right now goes to the Lumia 930 because it places some of the best-available smartphone technology into a package that isn't too big nor too small.

Inside the Lumia 930, you'll find a 2.2 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor and 2GB of RAM. In terms of performance, the Lumia 930 will keep you happy for the foreseeable future. With those internals, you'll be able to run all the latest games and apps with no problem.

You'll view those apps and games with a 5-inch 1080p display. This large display and high-resolution results in a Start screen experience that isn't cramped with the third Live tile column. Colors look good, but you can customize the brightness and color profiles in the settings.

We're also big fans of the camera included in the Lumia 930. It doesn't have the same 41 MP sensor found in the Lumia 1020, but it does feature some of the same imaging technology. A 20 MP PureView sensor gives you pixel oversampling technology for better photo cropping and zooming. You'll find Zeiss optics, optical image stabilization, dual LED flash and more. All of this adds up to a stellar photography experience.

32 GB of storage is what you get with the Lumia 930, plus 15 GB of OneDrive cloud space. The omission of a memory card support is the one flaw in the Lumia 930. While 32 GB works for most, your individual needs might differ. The fixed storage will result in you needing to watch your space a little more closely.

In conclusion, the Lumia 930 is the best Windows Phone you can buy today. It has technology that won't make it obsolete tomorrow, but will keep you happy for some time to come. It's also an attractive phone that feels good in the hand and comes in a variety of colors.

The best Windows Phone you can buy with a huge screen – the Lumia 1520

Need a really, really big Windows Phone? Then the Lumia 1520 is for you. It has the same specs as the Lumia 930 above but puts them into a larger package. That's right; it's a phablet, and one of the best around.

You need to see the screen on the Lumia 1520 to appreciate truly what Nokia managed to do. A 6-inch 1080p IPS LCD makes up your display on the front giving users ample room for reading and gaming. The ClearBlack technology makes images and content seem to float on the surface of the glass. The Lumia 1520 has a stunning display that needs to be seen in order to be appreciated. Do you need a Windows Phone that will double as a tablet and media device? You won't find a better device than the Lumia 1520.

If you are missing expandable memory in the Lumia 930 you won't need to worry about storage on the Lumia 1520. You'll find a microSD card slot on the device that accepts cards in size up to 128 GB. Making sure you never run out of space for your movies, music and photos.

Imaging is equally excellent, and we've captured some of our best shots on the Lumia 1520. In short, this is the Windows Phone you get when you want a big phone (or little tablet).

The best Windows Phone you can buy on a budget – the Lumia 630

Inexpensive handsets and emerging markets are where Microsoft has seen a lot of success with Windows Phone. A lot of that can be attributed to last year's Lumia 520 – one cheap and capable smartphone. Earlier this year the Lumia 630 was announced. And while not a direct follow-up to the Lumia 520, it's a worthy successor in a few areas.

The Lumia 630 has a lot going for it. It's affordable, stylish and runs Windows Phone 8.1 without any issues. Pictures don't do this little phone justice. You need to hold the Lumia 630 to take in the design that went into a phone at this price point. The colorful shells are removable and can be made to match your mood or outfit.

A 4.5-inch IPS LCD makes up your display on the Lumia 630. It's running at a resolution of 854 x 480; those extra 54 pixels allow for the onscreen navigation bar to go back, go to your Start screen or launch Cortana. Inside a 1.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor is running everything with 512 MB of RAM. We'll be the first to admit, a full gig of RAM would be nice, but you won't encounter too many apps or games that you won't be able to run.

Speaking of apps and games, 8 GB of onboard storage comes in the box, but you can add an extra 128 GB with a microSD card if you want. The Lumia 630 has a camera with 5 MP and auto-focus to help you capture memories on the Lumia 630.

The Lumia 630 can be found for about $130 USD, though your price may vary by region. It's a whole lot of phone for very little cash.

The future

These are the best Windows Phones you can buy today. But in the coming months we're expecting to see an explosion in the number of available handsets running Windows Phone. Microsoft is expected to announce and release two new Lumia handsets sometime in September – the Lumia 730 and Lumia 830.

HTC just released the HTC One (M8) for Windows as an exclusive on Verizon. It's currently limited to just one carrier in the United States, but it is coming to AT&T sometime in the near future. It wouldn't be too hard to guess that we'll see the HTC One appear on more carriers around the globe as well. Early speed tests suggest it is one fast phone, with equally impressive hardware.

For emerging markets, you can look forward to an even bigger number of available Windows Phones. Earlier this year Microsoft dropped the licensing fee for the Windows Phone operating system. Windows Phone 8.1 also introduced a few changes that allow smartphone makers turn their existing Android hardware into Windows Phone hardware with minimal effort. These two semi-recent developments should produce more choice for consumers around the globe. New Windows Phones from Yezz and Blu are just two on the immediate horizon.

It's an exciting time to join the Windows Phone family.

Reader comments

The best Windows Phone you can buy - August 2014

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1520 is the best phone on many, many levels... I accept that the phone is a bit too big and I feel that 5.5" will end up as the phone that most people will want... Th 930 is not the best.., battery is poor.., to me it is just another Windows Phone but with a good camera... My problem with Nokia at the moment is that they are drowning in 4.5" and 4.7" phones... There are way too many variants of the same phone.. Make 3 to 4 phones and stick with it.. 6", 5.5", 4.7" and 4.3" would be fine... Some daft colours too..., White, Black, Grey are good..., not sure about the Green and Orange.., not for £500 anyway...

It kind depends on what carrier you are currently with! Verizon is the king of high end WPs but has only two colors. AT&T is large phablet 1520 and 520 and 635 and 925 black. T-Mobile only has the 521 and 635 in White only! I heard that they might get the 830 but not the 730! I kind want the 730 because of the look! Not keen on the black ring around the camera. It alway my luck to get the carrier with the limited selection. That why I strongly thinking about going back to Apple; and it new upcoming iPhone 6. You can buy it unlock at full price and you can go anywhere. Updates are directly from Apple. Google Nexus is the same way too! So it the Nexus 6 vs. iPhone 6 for me! I never owned an Android phone before so it kind of a mystery!

I had a 1520 but unfortunately I dropped it and destroyed the screen. I know, no screen protector and no case, my recklessness. I'm using a 630 until I decide to either get another 1520 or wait for a bit to see if a new high end update is coming. The 630 is surprisingly good for the cost. I love the 1520, it's the best phone I've ever owned. It's not easy holding out.

Other then the 630; none of the rest are easy to buy unless you want to switch carriers! And then; you have to convince the retail staff that you do not want to switch to the iPhone or Galaxy! The person will have to hunt around the stock room to get the model for you too. LOL!

I just got done visiting a small Verizon store and there were no Windows M8 smartphones on display. I ask about it and they knew nothing about the Windows model but the Android M8 was on display and she told me about the features but recommended the S5! LOL!

930 getting lots of press here in the UK, which is good to see. TV ads on most nights, in bus shelters, on buses and in the papers. Just wish they'd drop that awful "honestly" music and make them a bit slicker.

If only Lumia 930 would have Glance functionality... Anyway in terms of up to date internals and design it is true, Lumia 930 is currently the best Windows Phone you can buy.
However, as a proud owner of a Lumia 1020 that I am, I will wait for its successor. I hope to see this year or at the beginning of 2015 the 41 megapixels camera paired with quad-core processor and 5" screen that has Glance and on screen buttons. Also I wouldn't mind if this Lumia 1020 successor would have micro SD support.

I have the Icon, and I would have to agree. The screen is a great size for me, and the phone is much sleeker than my old brick (822). Shortly after getting it, I took many videos at an event, and the quality was awesome! Hasn't let me down yet.

I have a 630 and I love it. It's surprisingly fast for a budget phone, and I haven't seen many phones as pretty and conveniently sized. Thanks Nokia and Microsoft for bringing great phones to those of us on a budget!

So basically the best phone out isn't even available in American retailers. The worst part of the Nokia-MS deal is how slow phone development has been. When news broke Maclaren was cancelled, I was pissed. I don't want a 6 inch phone nor do I want some phone originally built for Android. Where's my new high-end Nokia phone announcement??

It has to be a Nokia, because Nokia apps are plainly loyt better than any other OEMs software.

But Nokia needs to adjust their designs to compete with HTC better looking slimmer more rounded hardware. The Nokia Lumia phones are too blocky slabs. Many of us just want 4.25 inch displays, not big excesove 5 inch phones. We are not all big fat yobs.

My wife has been complaining about the size of her 920. She likes the phone except she'd prefer a high-end phone that fits better in her smaller hands. I suppose one of the larger phones might work if they, as you say, work on making them feel slimmer.

I love ❤ the design quality of the 930. I have the black version.photo s have good colour balance and the refocus app produce interesting arty pictures. I hope the htc m8 will be available in Europe,as it is a solid build phone simular to 930, but with out wireless charging

Looks like, if you want a pocketable Windows phone in America that is not either obsolete (925) or having received the black spot "End of Life" designation (1020), you need to go to Verizon. Maybe that will change in Q4.

Custom-built phones! We've bveen doing with PCs for years. I'd love to have a custom-built phone. I'd pretty much spec up a Lumia 1020 with a Snapdragon 800 and an SD card slot with a cyan shell. Perfect imo.

Seriously considering the HTC M8 after reading the reviews. Excellent specs, good speed, and removable storage. I'll miss Nokia's camera, but I'll admit that I don't take most of the pics in the family so will leave the 1020 for my wife. Now if Nokia comes up with something like the 930 with a microSD slot, I'll seriously consider changing. 32GB of storage sounds like a lot until you start taking lots of pics, video, and then also want to store music and apps.

The 930 is the single most bugged phone I've seen coming out of Nokia. Never ever in 15 years have I seen a Nokia with so many defects.
It's also a good testament to the "Fuck it, we don't care anymore" attitude that took over the D&S division once MS announced their plans to swallow it.

I'm here because I'm still using my 920 since the morons at Microsoft haven't replaced my 930 yet. That was 5 weeks ago.
Also because Sony hasn't announced nor released the Z3 compact yet. Once they do, I'll be buying one. Yet even then I'll be around as my 1020 week continue to be my dedicated camera. I won't be bothering myself with Microsoft's ineptitude and lack of support for Windows Phone though. They'll be offering me their services on Android too and with better apps.

Not cramped with third row of tiles? Are you kidding me? I wanted to buy it following owning a 920 and previously 800 as I love the build quality of Nokia phones but looking at the screen with three rows of medium tiles DOES make it looked cramped and decreases the visibility of even large tiles which defeats the whole point of having live tiles in the first place. This wouldn't bother me AT ALL if you could just switch the setting back to the normal view just like in WP 8.1 preview, but the option has been removed here. Why on earth would you REMOVE options and functionality for the consumer? Microsoft is losing customers by making stupid decisions which are totally unnecessary and which do not cost more to implement. That plus the fact that there are next to NO apps for medical professionals on WP is making me go for a SonyXPERIA Z2 even though I really don't want to go back to Android. I need the apps for my work and I have waited long enough for apps to become available on Windows phone and its still not happening. Now what they have done with the 930 is take their best and most beautiful phone with regards to hardware and make it look ugly and cramped due to a stupid software option. With tiles that small even the iPhone looks better, especially when you have a background image which decreases legibility further.

You know, it's not a crime to switch, if you need and want those particular apps on your phone. I agree that apps like these would be essential to have for WP to be more popular, but you can always come back to WP at a later time. Despite the negative things people say about WP and some are true, it isn't going anywhere anytime soon. I think it will keep gaining share, especially as MS continues to make quick wanted and needed improvements. WP has come a LOOONG way from what it was and more dev support of apps that people want is key to that.

At this point, the argument that WP isn't as good is not so much of an issue anymore. It's a different flavor and it shouldn't try to be like Android or iPhone, only features that just make sense should be added and unique OS features to be improved.

The third column of tiles being locked is actually a problem with 1080p displays. If you've got a phone with a 720p display or lower you have the option of both. That's why I'd like to see the 830 come with a 4.5" 720p display rather than a 1080p display. The classic two columns of times is what makes Windows Phone look like WIndows Phone. It looks weird with three.

The 1520 and 1320 are the only phones which look ok with them though, since they're fucking huge.

Was this done before the HTC One? I think this will give the Icon/930 a run for the top spot. My only concern is the support from HTC. I have a 8X and i missed out on a lot of extras that Nokia/MS provided.

waiting for the next generation. I really want to see new designs come out. the nokia shell is wearing old after so many variations. I think LG and HTC are doing some really nice work while nokia and samsung are stuck with the same old. the 930 is a good indication but needs to go farther. time to evolve.

I bought a Lumia 630 for my kid (I have an Icon) and I must admit I am impressed by it. It beats the 520 when it comes to speed and overall smoothness and it just feels great to use. I hope it can become as big a hit (well, within the WP world at least) as the 520.

On a side note: MS is doing a lot of TV advertising for the 630 right now, where they put it with Cortana against iPhone with Siri, and those ads are very good. I just wish they'd emphasize the "$130 WITHOUT any obligation" aspect of it. Saying a phone is $0 down is nice, but that has been the case for a long time with many phones with a contract. I think they have a chance to get through to those who want a good no-contract phone for less. WP8.1 is finally an OS where you can say "Yeah it's good, BUT..." There is no "but" involved anymore as far as the OS goes.

Yeah that's great but what about that xiaomi which is providing big specs with snapdragon 800 processor. That phone is getting sold within seconds. Lumia 520 sold well due to great ads. Now we need great ads first

lol um...I'm a 920 fanboy as far as most of its features, but let's call a pig, "a pig." i dropped it on my bare foot and it hurt. i'm not saying i cried, but yes, it did hurt. i bet if i dropped in on a little kid's head, they would cry. for its screen size, it's too heavy. it's almost as heavy as the 1520. but i still love my little pig, because i love bacon.

Same here. All those talks about hero phones, where IMHO midrange phones have the best balance of all things. Somehow I started to like my Lumia 820 more and more during his time of use. A.o because of the nice WP software upgrades. Like SD card support. 8 +64 on mine. Fast and RGB screen. Sure, less resolution, but who really cares besides in reviews. Less camera. Yep, I'd like a 13-20MP Pureveview camera. Therefore I'm really looking forward to see what the 730 and 830 have to offer.

I might change from Nokia to HTC.
Lets be honest here,has anyone even seen the speed of HTC camera APP? It's way faster than Nokia camera.I mean ALOOOT OF RESUMING IS BEING SEEN IN THE NOKIA APP WHY???? Then comparing 5MP vs 4MP, picture taking speed is also way faster too. At first i though it was due to low hardware in 1020 but even in 930/1520,there is slight delay but it ain't important factor for me.
Then HTC exclusive apps, we got Blinkfeed which is great,HTC CAMERA too,A storyteller like application too just I don't remember the name but there is one. And finally creative studio alternative too. When you take a pic,there is Ufocus effect,filters etC. EVERYTHING IS THERE. MicroSd card, a great battery.
I am getting this bad boy once it hits international!

Your welcome and they truly did, windows phone needs variation from all those polycarbonate and cheap grade plastic phones "cough" Samsung "cough". It will be interesting when the phones from the other OEMs hit the market. Market share is bound to go up significantly.

exactly. I think it is essential for these guys to sell nokia's assets and get out of this market for good. Open the OS to OEMs for android-like customization and give then an alternative to android.

MSFT has tried everything, yet google seems to have found the only model that works. it doesn't mean MSFT will succeed but when you tried everything and failed, that which you have not tried must be the correct next step.

Right because we now have "One" option outside of Lumia. Using your "Android does it and it's successful" logic, I could counter that Apple doesn't allow ANY customization and they are even MORE successful.

well, I mean you chose just about all you can. this means a nokia model of sorts. It's not like WP has an actual device ecosystem like android does where choosing a phone is hard. what's the best 6 inch windows phone? pfff well the only one. What's the best cheap windows phone...well the only one. What's the best 5 inch windows phone...well the only one!

Those are two pretty big catagories though. Arguably the most important two next to performance and a person will be hard pressed to feel the difference in performance I think. Looking at the two screens though (I have both too) the Icon screen is just so much better. Enough that I may not keep the M8 for that reason alone.

No, biggest category for me is ergonomics. The M8 just sits well in the hand and the pocket. The Icon is a beastly tank of a phone, just a hair from being a brick. Second for me is annoyance. Having to manage memory, WiFi issues, not a single problem with the HTC so far. We'll see when it comes to updates. Auto-answer when you hold it up to your ear is damn nice too.

It is still a better phone pound for pound. That's the point of the article. If the m8 had a better rear cam, then it would win. But the other spec edges it has over the 930 don't make it better overall.

it feels less rehased. I have a 900, 920, 1020, and recently a 1520. Basically it is the same basic design with slight touches but looking at phones like the G3 and some of the newer HTCs, I have to say nokia's design has grown repetitive. The design is like a good joke that was great, then ok, then meh, and now it is getting annoying.

Well, what design would you recommend? How about a 1520, thin as it is, with one of those bendable screens we've seen, with the ability to fold it in half, allowing for a large phone to be pocketed easier? The size being the biggest (no pun intended) gripe, would be reduced ( no pun again). Be cool if we could answer it while folded as well. Maybe.

So many designs have been tried. Very difficult when you think about it because everything needs to fit and work.

ugly may be a bit strong. Certainly not Iconic, and certainly does not 'look like a lumia'. I am certainly not going to buy one, mostly because of it's looks, but the lack of SD and glance certainly don't help either.